Dragonfly

Once upon a sunrise
look up and see it fly –
too long it has waited
for its warmth
to spring alive;

it can only stay a while
but it begs to beguile –
entreat and entrance,
with its shadow
to dance.

Sapphire studded, sparkling;
an azure streak that startles,
sweeps, swoops, and shimmers,
our eyes to mesmerise.

Watch it glide,
watch it hover
where instinct
makes it
tell its wings
to take it...

over culvert,
pond and river
where bull-rushes quiver;

where custard-cupped
lilies blush pink
as it courts them,
brushing by

over dappled, dazzling water
there to capture our attention
as we snatch a brief reflection,

catch a glancing glimpse of gentian
as it dips and darts and dives
in spangled shards of light.

Once upon a sunset
this dance shall be its last –
once upon a lifetime...
once a dragonfly.